No Liberties for Granted
by DontKillMyVibe
Summary: New Chapter: It's 1947 and Sammy and Casey need to step up and defend Jackie Robinson. Oh yes and don't take the poll on my profile cuz whaaaaaale I removed it. So yes. But anyway hopefully you enjoy this in the midst of your school angst. Because schoolwork sucks. Majorly.
1. Chapter 1

1947. World War Two had just come to a close. You would think that with the horrors of the Holocaust coming into the light, America would be the first to step up and say no to racism, correct? We're always preaching equality.

I had no idea that we would be still segregated. Blacks and whites were divided in half. Whites that stood up for blacks were treated nearly as cruelly. There were establishments for both races, always two of everything, never one. Two fountains, the superior one for the whites. Two halves of buses. Black people's orders were refused to be taken at restaurants. And if people staged sit-ins where they refused to move until they received their food, soda, ketchup, and insults would be poured onto them.

"Land of the free, home of the brave." What utter bullshit. But when I look back today, I started to become directly involved in this injustice when my husband started playing Major League Baseball.

* * *

It was a sweltering day in early 1947. Men and women were sweating like crazy in their suits that was common fashion to ball games. Casey Acosta, my fiancée, invited me to one of the Brooklyn Dodgers' home games, a team in which he was a member of. Casey had just gone up to bat and had gotten up to second base. The next batter emerged from the dugout.

Everyone started booing and hissing once they realized who stepped up to the plate. Mr. Jackie Robinson, the first black player ever in major league history, was perhaps the most controversial person to date to ever hit in Dodger territory. In case you're wondering, Casey and I are full supporters of the Negro movement, and Casey was one of the few kind players to fully accept Jackie into the team.

Getting him there wasn't easy though. Casey's amazing heart paid the price. Not only was Jackie chastised and booed, but now Casey had to endure that as well solely because he showed support.

Jackie was a fearless player. He ignored every single cutting comment that flew from the Cardinals' dugout. He defied inferiority stereotypes. In fact, he blew them out of the water. But people were blind to everything but the color of his face. If someone were to punch him in the face, and he retaliated, the headline would read, "Negro player can't control temper." I wonder how he hasn't cooked the flesh of the people who patronize him yet. I know I would.

Jackie had remarkable self restraint. He didn't let anything faze him. He wasn't weak not to fight back, but rather the strongest of them all.

"Hey, Negro, you don't belong here. Never will."

The pitcher that was always ready to pick a fight with Jackie narrowed his eyes and glared at him. He then aimed the ball at Jackie, looking to hit him, but Jackie ducked to the ground so the ball narrowly missed. The crowd groaned.

Second pitch. I held my breath. Jackie slammed it toward left field. Casey came in quickly and slid hard across the ground for the winning home run. And the Cardinals' manager was clearly not happy about it. In a rage, he called out contemptuously,

"Hey, Acosta! How does it feel to be a Negro sympathizer?"

"I don't know, Remmy. How does it feel to be a redneck piece of shit?"

Oooooh 10 points for Casey. I smiled to myself. Casey turned around to celebrate the with his teammates.

* * *

The next day, the Dodgers started to prepare a game against the New York Giants. I went along with Casey in order to check into the same hotel. Although I couldn't be on the bus with the team, Casey said he still wanted me to be at the game, and would be most comfortable if we were at the same hotel. But that all changed when we arrived to check in.

"Get the hell off my property," the hotel manager spat.

"We've been staying at this hotel for ten years. Are you shitting me when you're saying we can't sleep because we have Jackie with us?" The Dodgers' manager stood adamant, firm. I have so much respect for him.

"Get rid of that colored player or get off this damn land."

Players that hadn't accepted Jackie yet started complaining: "We seriously have to sleep in the bus now" and "this bastard isn't worth it". However, the minority of players (including Casey) stood next to the manager and disregarded the sentences coming from  
Jackie's haters. Wordlessly, they ripped up the paper with the reservations, and spun on their heels, and headed back to the bus.

Casey gave me his seat and only blanket to sleep in on the bus and called the floor. But he looked so cold that while he was sleeping I gave him my blanket, knowing that if he was awake he would never take it from me, even if he was frozen. I swore to myself then and there that we would do anything in our power to get Jackie accepted into baseball. And blacks into society. If he can play, he can play. Simple as that.

**A/N: This story is inspired from the movie 42, which released in April but I had only gotten around to it recently. I love the concept of the movie and racial justice, and especially how some whites defied the barrier to help blacks. Sorry for all of the swear words, but that's how it was back then.**

**I couldn't find any time to fit much Cammy into this chapter, mostly because it didn't fit with my introducing the circumstances and tension of the era. Don't worry, there will be plenty of Cammy in the upcoming chapters though, so don't be too disappointed.**

**Please review and take the poll on my profile on what I should update next! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Casey's POV**

The Cardinals' manager was plenty pissed over my redneck comment. But I didn't care at all. Why can't those people take their ignorance somewhere else? This is BASEBALL, for crying out loud. America's past time is now America's rebellion.

I would never tell Sammy about this, but my openness about accepting blacks into baseball has had white fans sending me threatening letters. Death promises. Over a SPORT. I can't tell Sammy because I don't want her to worry. And then she'll possibly grab a kitchen knife and go after the idiots herself. Which MIGHT get us sued.

It was our first game against the Cardinals since the incident. I'm positive the manager still harbored anger with me. My little comment had made him look like a buffoon on the media.

I didn't expect the manager to signal the pitcher to hit me. But my eyes caught the subtle signal from his hands. My eyes narrowed. No way.

The pitcher chucked the ball but I was ready. I swept out of the way and shielded my face. The crowd went ballistic, thankfully though in my favor and out of hatred for the pitcher. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sammy with a scared expression on her face. I really wanted to assure her that I was ok. I'm not going to die. These cowards just want to attempt to feel tough.

The next pitch was a close one, but I slammed it like the ball was the manager's face. I felt the satisfying crack of the bat and got the ball out to deep right center. It was close to being a home run, but the outfielder caught it. I was the third out. I headed over to the dugout to get my mitt and get to defense. I was the first basemen.

A humongous player stepped into the batter's box like he owned it from the other team. He swung the biggest bat I had ever seen and tapped it into his shoes. Under his cleats, he had spikes on the bottom that looked like they could do damage. I saw the manager give a little nod to the batter. It was an intimidating picture, but our pitcher wasn't fazed at all. He kept his cool and winded up the pitch.

The Monster hit it wide and far, but Jackie was there after the second bounce and sent it strong into my mitt. I was getting ready to call the out when a blinding pain overcame my leg. The Monster had scraped the bottom of his cleats down on me and crushed it with his entire weight.

My eyes shut tight and my jaws clenched. My leg my leg my leg. I fell on one knee and held my crowd was screaming profanity. I could hear Sammy screaming my name at the top of her lungs, trying to get past the guards and rush off the field. I could feel my heart beating. Jackie hurried up to support me and I attempted to limp off the field. It was no use. Back to the dust I went. I was driven to the nearest hospital and I sank into the bed.

Sammy came rushing in and collapsed on my chest, heaving huge breaths. I put my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She then remembered my leg and hurriedly started to inspect it. It seemed to overwhelm her some more and she went back to hugging me.

"It looked so bad from where I was sitting. I thought you were unconscious."

"I'm fine," I close my eyes into her hair, trying to hide the fact that I was lying and my leg was burning off. "Did we win or lose?"

She felt my forehead and cheeks. "You're burning up. And, I'm really sorry, but you guys lost. Don't worry about it though. What can I get you? Seriously, Casey. Anything."

"I could use a kiss," I said innocently. Anything to get my mind off of my leg.

Sammy didn't hear me. She was too busy ranting about the field security and the monster. "The NERVE of those people! I was trying to GET to you, and they didn't let me past the damn field boundaries. And that MAN THAT BARRELED INTO YOU. DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED. I'M GOING TO HUNT HIM DOWN AND SHOVE THAT HUGE BAT UP HIS-"

I clapped my hand over her mouth.

"Oh right," she said sheepishly, "this is a public place."

The doctor came in and told us what was to become of my leg. "The tests just came in. We thought it was just a small fracture, but his leg it indeed broken."

Sammy gasped and squeezed me tighter. The doctor just had to continue though. "He'll be out of the baseball season for about six weeks in order for his leg to heal."

I could practically hear The Monster cackling. The Cardinals wanted to play dirty. That means Jackie's probably next. I asked Sammy to warn his wife once she left for the night.

"Are you crazy, Casey? I'm staying overnight."

"Where exactly are you going to sleep?"

"The couch. I have a lot of experience sleeping there, remember?"

And with that, she patted my bandaged leg tenderly, massaged my back for a bit, and went to borrow blankets and toothbrushes from the staff to stay here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Thankfully, Casey's leg healed nicely. Weeks later, he ditched his crutches and could walk on his own with a foot brace, although he would have to wait a couple more days to play baseball again.

Also good news: the fucking Monster that rammed into him got suspended for 50 games. A ban which MIGHT or might not have been enforced by yours truly. Lucky for him though; it could have been worse. Much worse. As in, let's hope that he was not planning on keeping his arms attached to his body much longer.

I have a collection of knives. But that's besides the point.

Jackie and his wife invited us for lunch to celebrate Casey's steady recovery. Sweet huh, considering all the racists in the state hate our guts, and putting us altogether is a guarantee of disaster. I'm glad that we don't care about that crap.

"How are you ladies?" Casey and Jackie met up with me and Rachel (Jackie's fiancée) as we talked at the corner of our houses. They had gone to chat about baseball and whatnot before lunch. We then walked over to the bus to ride to Hopkins' Bar, a popular lunch spot.

Which, unfortunately, meant taking the bus. The _segregated_ bus.

I took a deep breath and stepped on after my friends did. The driver took one glance at their skin and heaved his gluttonous buttocks out of his leather seat. He marched over to where they were sitting wearing  
a huge frown.

"I'm going to have to ask you to get to the back," he said with his teeth clenched, making my blood boil. "These two," the man continued, gesturing to me and Casey, "need a place to sit."

I violently shook my head and narrowed my eyes. "No, sorry, we weren't planning on sitting there."

"Well, miss, I wasn't planning on losing my job today." He turned to Jackie. "Stand in the back or walk to your destination." He pushed my arm away from the seat. "You sympathizes too."

"Don't touch her." Casey's fists tensed up and red faced, he grabbed my hand and practically dragged me towards the bus exit, closely followed by Jackie and Rachel.

**Casey's POV:**

It's really getting to Sammy how badly they're being treated. It's really killing me too.

At least we made it through the lunch without any other disturbances. Except we couldn't make it to Hopkins' bar because it was too far to go on foot. We ended up going to a cute new restaurant called McDonald's. The food was decent, but not a lot of people eat there. I guess burgers'll never be that popular in America.

We had to leave early though because I had a doctor's appointment. My leg brace was coming off and I could start playing at out next game! Sammy hugged me and squeezed my shoulder in support as I finally got to walk fully on two legs for the first time. I was so ready.

Two days later, I slipped into my blue Dodgers uniform again after what seemed like an eternity. Sammy promised she would come to my game today, because I was facing the same Gorilla that tore my leg off in the first place.

Will he be stupid enough to pull anything this time? I have no clue, but I have to admit I was nervous.

"Very handsome," Sammy nodded as she secured my cap for me. Our carpool honked outside, and we ran to catch up with it. My teammates congratulated me for coming back.

When the Gorilla came up to bat, my leg started to tingle. Is this psychological or something? But the memories were flooding back as the color drained from my face. Deja vû at it's creepiest. Here we go.

Strike One.

Strike Two.

Ball One.

_Crack._

The chunky bat broke clean in half as the ball sailed over our heads. I was sure it was a home run. Looking up, up up, it skimmed the side of the boundary and JUST missed a run by mere centimeters. It bounced on the ground and our center fielder sent it in to me strong.

I stretched out my mitt and, despite myself, shut my eyes tight, expecting to feel unfathomable pain any second. It seemed like the entire stadium was silent. Was this only the last pitch of the game, or the last pitch of my career?

I felt pressure in my hand and knew the ball had made contact. Right after I was positive I had touched the base, I scrambled to get my foot off the plate and finally opened them. I was quick enough to see the Monster bring the trunk he calls a leg down on the **exact spot I just had my foot**.

I raised the ball high in the air and threw my mitt up when the ref called him out. I triumphantly screamed  
TAKE THAT as the scoreboard proudly read out, **Cardinals: 0 Dodgers: 4**.

Turns out everyone was holding his breath along with me. The Gorilla glared at me in fury. I've never felt so proud to turn my back on him and rejoice with my amazing teammates.

We took victory showers, each of us donating money to splurge on hot water, which cost extra. I was about to step in when I noticed Jackie sitting by himself in the corner of the locker room. I walked over to him.

He looked up as I came up. "Good job today, Case."

"Why aren't you showering? Aren't you boiling?"

"I'll...go after you all are finished."

"Don't be ridiculous. We're a team. Ha, you're not embarrassed or anything, are you?" I punched him lightly. "Our bodies are temples."

Jackie cracked a small smile. "Nah, it's ok. You're fine with me, I know that, but some of those other guys, Case, they don't...acknowledge me."

"Hey, well guess what? Without you, we wouldn't BE taking victory showers right now. We went from a losing team to a winning team, Jackie, because of YOU. So don't you ever think that your ass isn't good enough. And whatever we do as a team, we do together. So. Come on, Jackie. Take a shower with me."

I said it so earnestly and didn't even think about my words until I noticed him looking at me strangely.

"No, no, not like that. Gah." This was awkward. "Ok. That came out wrong. But I am serious about the whole team thing. So, what do you say?"

Jackie was silent a few moments, but finally he spoke. "I'm flattered, Casey, but I have a wife already."

We laughed really hard, and I pulled him up and he came to shower with the team after our first win in a while.

**A/N: This chapter was seriously weird...idk hope you guys liked it!**

**My school is awesome, but the work load needs to pipe down majorly. Because as a wittle Freshie, I'm taking Algebra 2 Trigonometry Honors. Like wtf apparently they make those classes now?!**

**Soooooooooooooooo you know. I typed this all up at midnight. If you want another update, you'll have to review.**


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